Always There
by Ivydoll
Summary: AceLuffy. Lemon. Cliche challenge: Make a hopeless cliche somehow 'good.' Well, I tried. Failed, but tried.


**(KAI) **I really... haven't actually read One Piece. But I like a challenge.

* * *

Little brother is a fool. He misbehaves, is punished, but persists. He keeps his dark hair unkempt, and prefers his raggy shorts to nice pants. He is wild and plays in the dirt and the water; he climbs trees and makes friends with animals. Ace is not sure how such a heathen can exist so easily in this way when so much opulence and comfort is available. Ace is clean and perfect, and takes advantage of what surrounds them. He thinks maybe it will never change. Little brother Luffy thinks differently. He imagines wild things, fanciful things Ace has put away long, long ago. Luffy spins tales of the things he will do, and the places he will see; sometimes in his fantasies, he will spin Ace, and Ace will be a gallant hero beside him. Ace can only listen, and smile, because he knows better than to let his own imagination run- never again, he has promised. So Luffy weaves the adventures in the air with flashing, never-stopping hands, and plays in the dirt, and the water, and the trees. And Ace is always there to catch him when he falls.

* * *

Little brother is no longer a baby, but not a man. Ace refuses to admit that one day, Luffy _will_ grow older, and perhaps even chase after the dreams he dreamt as a child. And though so much has changed in Ace's life in these years, Luffy is the one thing he can rely on. Little brother Luffy never changes, and is always smiling, because he knew all along, that things do change. Things are not always perfect. So when Ace can't always handle it, Luffy is always there with a hug, and an optimistic word.

* * *

Little brother Luffy has never before truly surprised Ace; nothing said in childhood, nor done, nor tear shed or smile cracked, has ever been beyond Ace's comprehension, so when Luffy-at-fourteen walks up to his bed at an hour of the night not worth mentioning, he is more surprised at being surprised, than he is surprised at Luffy's sudden appearance. No, don't think this has never happened before- Luffy has spent more than one night wrapped up in Ace's comforting arms, when nightmares came creeping, and when fear came haunting. No, Ace has seen and done this before, but he is nevertheless, for the first time, surprised. You see, little brother Luffy is crying in a way which Ace has never imagined possible; is looking at him with such a look of near-heartbreak, that Ace sits up in bed and asks what's wrong. Ace has never done this before; their routine as far as this sort of thing is concerned is merely that Ace will lift the covers before Luffy crawls onto the bed, and then Luffy will curl up to Ace's chest and cry, or sleep, or cry himself to sleep, while Ace holds him tightly, gently, lovingly. This time is different, though, so Ace finds himself throwing back the covers and laying his hands on Luffy's shaking shoulders, concern flooding through him like a dam breaking.

Luffy cries at him with those dark eyes, gripping a pillow and unable to make the painful sobs pouring from him turn into words. Ace tries to draw him closer, and at first Luffy resists, shaking his head, but Ace is strong and has Luffy crying into his collarbone with little effort, the pillow dropping to the floor with the quietest of thuds. He asks again what is wrong, because he worries it is something dire, and does not want Luffy hurting. Fiercely, he does not want Luffy hurting. And Luffy chokes out, at last, that he had a terrible nightmare, and that Ace hated him in it, and left him in the cold, forever, and ever. And no matter how he screamed and shouted, and cried, Ace would not return, and Ace can see that Luffy is horribly shaken by this dreamscape.

Assuring, he murmurs that he would never leave Luffy like that, though he knows now, as he has had to learn, that things _do_ change, and he may one day have to break the promise. Luffy shakes his dark hair under Ace's chin violently, his weeping coming to its end. He tells Ace that he loves him so much, and please don't leave me at all, and his thin arms are wrapped around Ace so tightly, he is sure he will never have to let go. Big brother Ace is the only one he wants to be with in the whole world, there is no one else that matters; no other heartbeat in the world is as strong, and gentle, and perfect as this. No one else in the world is as perfect as this.

Ace holds Luffy firmly, keeps his head in one hand, and his back in the other. He rocks them ever-so-slightly there on the floor, and if it were a dream then there would have been music. Luffy is whispering again how much he loves Ace, and Ace is so aware of the boy, so fondly comfortable, that he presses him close, and it is splendid. Little brother Luffy squirms, and reaches his arms between them, around Ace's neck, and in the half-light of the moon, his little face is the most beautiful thing Ace has ever seen, ethereal and pale, and streaked with tears, and those dark eyes are for him alone, and the look he sees in them is, as well. Looking back, he is unsure- was he surprised then, or wasn't he, by Luffy reaching for his hair, and pulling him close, and pressing his lips to his securely. Like he belonged there. Ace, to this day, can not quite tell.

Ace is so warm, Luffy revels, Ace is so wonderful. His lips are supple and hot, and he likes the way they feel, the way they move on his, because Ace _is_ kissing back, now, _is_ setting aside the almost-strangeness of their situation, and accepting himself into it.

Oh, and Luffy is so soft, but so rough, too. Ace's hands are roaming, are on Luffy's upper arms- soft- and then holding his hands- rough from years of play. But Luffy will not settle for this chaste space now between them- there is still so much to feel. Luffy wants to feel everything. So his hands are around Ace's strong back, and he can feel the muscles there, and they respond to his fingers, and Ace is touching him, too, and it feels _so good._

Ace's breath comes heavily, and he can smell the earth in Luffy's hair, and on his skin, and he leans down and kisses at the long, slender neck. Oh, and the little sounds Luffy makes! Little gasp, little moan. His teeth touch the heartbeat under Luffy's pale skin, and his tongue as well. Luffy shivers and holds onto Ace with everything he's got because he's sure his knees will go out soon, for as much as they are shaking. God, and the way Ace presses them together, he can feel himself tighten and tremble, and the heat from _down there_ is spreading all up through him like fire. Oh, this is new, this is different.

He had had no intentions for this to occur. Truly, his motives toward little brother Luffy were all pure. The operating word here, of course, is 'were'. So Ace found himself suddenly fumbling with the hem of the boy's top fervently, desperately pulling it from Luffy's small, quivering chest. The moon's half-light, pale and silver, washed Luffy in an evanescent glow, so that he seemed more beautiful and young and desirable than Ace had ever considered possible. And through that pale darkness, Luffy turned his dark eyes on Ace needfully, so that they were smoky and faraway, and exquisite. Eyes that were only for him.

Luffy had gasped as his shirt became gone, and now stood as the cool air brushed all around him, ghosting where Ace's hands had been, where they would be. He felt his chest prickle and dance with something akin to anticipation. And Ace was looking at him so dearly, like he was an angel, and Luffy, involuntarily, blushes, and is embarrassed for it. In the shadowy half-light, Ace chuckles, gathers him to his chest, and kisses his cheeks where the color has gone rosy and charming. As his chest touched against Ace, Luffy feels his chest where it is perky, and lets out a little moan, because oh, it's so nice, and oh, wouldn't it be nice for Ace to feel it, too? So Luffy is slipping his hands under Ace's shirt, and letting his fingers press into the hot skin, and Ace is slipping his hands all across him, because he needs to, because Luffy needs to feel how much he loves him, too.

Mm, and God, isn't Luffy just the damndest thing? Pushing up his shirt and pressing his lips against Ace's collarbone? Yes, Ace is sure, this is good; in a bad, bad way, this is good. Gently, he turns the boy and lays him on the bed, one knee resting on the sheets just between Luffy's near-shaking legs. He can see the confused desire written like stars in the sky across little brother's eyes. And oh, his own need is certainly painful. So he leans down, covering the quivering child with his vast chest, and his strong arms, and he kisses Luffy fully, gently, lovingly. He whispers, pressing his knee up slowly, carefully, and down slowly, carefully, that he loves Luffy, too, that he's always loved him. And Luffy feels tears prick to his eyes almost happily. There is not much room for the thoughts that spring to mind, such as all the words he wanted to say, all the truths he wanted to tell, but the urgent matter of what was happening to his body drove it all away, so that his mind was simply an empty space that could only be filled by the _feeling_ of Ace, the _sensation_ of everything that was big brother. Wonderful, perfect, the only one in the world.

Yes, big brother was doing wonderful things, too, making him pant and writhe and gasp. Ace is kissing the soft curve of Luffy's shoulder and neck, and he feels the pulse jump there and he grinds his hip down, up, and oh, it feels good, for him, too. Little brother has one hand wrapped around his arm, gripping in his fingers because it really is too much, and the other arm is splayed up, above his head, and holding onto the case of the pillow desperately. He feels almost like he is falling, and needs to hold on to something- anything.

Ace is groaning now, his vision so clouded and dim, that all he sees is little brother's lips parted and trembling. One hand slowly runs down the boy's chest, slowly, curls under the band of the boy's sleeping pants, and then- still so slowly, so agonizingly- the hand begins to pull those sleeping pants down. Luffy arches as the band of the pants passes over the part of him that is aching for some kind of unknown release, and as the cool air hits him. Oh, but the rest of him is so _hot_. So desperately _hot._

Ace can not quite believe this is real, suddenly, that this tight, young little body is laid out for him so willingly, so lovingly. Can not quite fathom how things turned out this way, and certainly can not quite understand why, for the life of him, he is so unconcerned about it. Little brother is here, and he is here only for _him._ So, if it is a dream, he smiles, he hopes it never ends. Luffy is pulling him close, now, pressing himself in a long line with Ace, and mewling as his hands find tufts of Ace's hair to anchor himself with. Hot breath turns Ace wanton, and he is abruptly pulling, even tearing, himself out of his own sleeping pants, so that he can be this close to little brother, so he can feel himself this close. And, God, how he aches now. How he aches for thin, boy-soft little Luffy.

Luffy's dark, dark eyes have gone wide, now. This- this is almost terrifyingly new. Now, don't think they have not seen each other in the nude before- boys are boys as much as girls are girls, and they have taken countless baths together, have gone swimming numerous times without the luxury of swim suits. But how the body looks calmly bathing- or even playing and laughing as it splashes water at its neighbor- or how the body looks swimming and drying in the sun, is totally different, wholly and unchangeably, from how the body looks taut and ready and bold in the shadowy moonlight, on the sacred place known as the bed. Luffy blushes brilliantly, swallowing hard as he took in the magnificence that was big brother in this heated state. And Ace kisses him gently, too, so that he is not so startled and afraid anymore.

That hand which had held big brother's arm for safety now slowly, shyly, makes it's way down Ace's chest, across the perked parts wonderingly, and finally, down to that place which made Luffy so nervous the blood pounding in his ears nearly made him swoon. Oh, and Ace was encouraging this exploration, lifting Luffy up so that they sat together, with Luffy's long, thin legs across Ace's hips, and Ace's legs crossed behind him. Oh, how intimately Ace held him, how close this made their situation, so that the part of Luffy that ached was painfully near that part of Ace that made color rise to his cheeks. And Ace is crooning in his ear that he's so beautiful and he loves him so much, so Luffy feels better, and boldly grasps his hand around the other's shaft, thinking if it feels good to have his own pressed and touched by skin, it must feel good for Ace, too. And oh, it does! Luffy blushes as Ace arches into the touch, bringing their selves closer, closer, touching. And Luffy whimpers as Ace gently bites his shoulder, as his aching part scrapes against his belly; oh, it feels good, and so he squeezes and grasps at Ace's manliness, thinking more would be better, thinking maybe Ace will arch again and make it feel so good like it did before. But Ace does not arch forward into the ministration Luffy is delivering, no, he sinks his teeth more firmly at Luffy's tender shoulder curve and reaches between them, wrapping his strong hand around little brother's shaft needfully. A gasp and a moan, a whimpering mewl, and Luffy has his other hand around the back of Ace's neck, because he's trying to press himself closer, trying to make this intense feeling greater. Oh, the closer he gets to big brother, the better, nothing would be better than this.

But Ace is making it better, Ace is touching him powerfully, rhythmically, and Luffy can not seem to breathe properly, it is so amazing. He tries to mimic it, tries to return these agonizing touches- the way Ace's fingers press into him one by one in a row, up and down, and the way Ace is pumping up and down, and rubbing his thumb on the top, almost _inside_, but, God, it feels so wonderful. Big brother is so _wonderful_. Luffy let out a strangled oh, oh, oh, and shivers and strains and suddenly there is an intrusion on him he was not expecting. A probing finger that makes him at one arch toward and at another away from Ace, because big brother has a finger down the back of him, has it sliding between Luffy's perfect little backside, and he then withdraws; Luffy is startled at how he misses that contact, because it is weird but so _good_. And he watches Ace pant and gasp as Luffy pushes and pulls and presses _harder_ because he wants Ace to know that it feels good, and please, oh, please don't stop. And big brother is touching his mouth, kissing him, and then sliding his fingers into the warmth of Luffy's parted mouth. He gasps, as Luffy is sucking on those few fingers, and grinding his hips forward, too, and his eyes are watching him intently, lovingly, waiting for what might happen next.

Ace wants to cry for how beautiful little brother is, for how much trust lies in those eyes, and those touches. Because nothing has ever been as exquisite as the feel of Luffy's skin, nor as delicious as his lips. Nothing has ever been as good as the feeling of Luffy shivering beneath him, next to him, nor has anything been as sweet as the sounds that fly from Luffy's parted mouth. So Ace is taking those fingers, running his thumb down the boy's back, and finally reaching down, around, and slowly, slowly, in. Luffy gasps and Ace is making it hard to think about the intrusion because he is nibbling on Luffy's ear and pumping him hard and fast. Slowly, he moves those fingers, slowly he explores his little brother, until he finds that fabled thing he has overheard of in bars not worth mentioning which he has, up until now, been ashamed to have frequented. Little brother Luffy cries out and flings his arms around Ace's neck, quivering and raising himself up, so that Ace has more access, and so that the aching parts are trapped between the two, rubbing and sliding and pressing together, against skin to skin to skin. So Luffy bites Ace's ear, too, because big brother should feel the wonderful shiver which comes with it, and because he is afraid he might scream out loud if he does not make his mouth do something.

Of course, there is an idea. He pulls away, slowly, breathing heavily, and looks at Ace deeply, thinking please don't stop, please don't, because he is scooting back to gain access to his brother in a whole new way. Thinking, it must be good, it must be wonderful. Hot color rose to his cheeks, because Ace is moving to his knees, and putting his _self_ at a level that could not be any more perfect with Luffy. Little brother opens his mouth and his eyes are closing as the fingers inside him send pleasure racing through his skin, his nerves, and he puts his mouth around the shaft because it just _feels_ right, and the groaning moan which Ace exhales loudly tells him that he was right about the feeling. Aces other long, shaking arm reaches over him, smoothes over the pale, lovely skin of Luffy's back, and Ace can not believe the fire works going off one by one on his lonely-for-so-long bed. Luffy is taking the shaft and treating it like a straw, pulling and sucking and lapping his tongue around and over and making a lolli of the head. He whispers, gently touching Luffy in return with that roaming hand, asking if it feels good, and Luffy can only let out a mewl of a yes, because words are not forming in his mind- colors are spiraling, white sparks are going off, but words are somewhere totally inaccessible, and he does not care.

Ace tells him it can be better, and Luffy is shocked- what on earth could be better? How could it get _better?_ Good God! So Luffy lets himself be pressed against the sheets, on his back, and oh, he misses the pressure that was inside him, the hot, burning touch. But Ace, a look of the most tender and gentle need, is making it better, as he promised- he is guiding that great, now wet and slippery shaft inside, _inside_, and oh, it's so new. So different. Luffy squirms and pants and lets Ace grasp his hips to push in further, because he is unable to think to move, only to reach uselessly above him to tangle his hands into the bed sheets, into the pillow. He is so full, so rich in big brother. And the white-hot flashes are coming back, stronger and more persistent, God, and so _good._ Ace looks down at Luffy, at the way his sooty eyelashes are fluttering on his cheeks, and the way he legs are twitching slightly with sensory overload, and he grasps at the slender boy-hips, and pulls them toward him more and more because it feels good for him, as well, and he can't believe how incredible Luffy feels- tight and hot and shaking. But he goes slow, because little brother could be hurting, and Ace _desperately_, you recall, does not want Luffy hurting. Slowly, he presses in and then out and in and out in short breaths, and Luffy is mewling appreciatively. Like an angel, his pale skin is laid out and perfect and Ace marvels at the pure, delicate boy shape- those long lines and thin arms, long neck, pointed chin. All for him, all for Ace. He asks if it is for him, he asks is it for me, Luffy? All for me? No one else? You are mine?

Because he can not stand the idea of Luffy seen by anyone, ever, like this, laid out and beautiful, his _angel_. But wild, because Luffy is half-sitting up now, his mouth open and panting, and he is quickening the pace, saying, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes to all. Yes to everything. And who can deny such a pretty plea? Such a desperate little cry for more. Ace pushes hard, his hands gripping Luffy's little hips almost painfully. Oh, and God, is it good, is it hot, and beautiful, and glorious. Little brother casts his pretty dark eyes up, red coloring his cheeks in the shadowed light, and he is asking then if it feels good for big brother? Is it okay?

Ace lets out a choked laugh, because _oh,_ is it good, and he tells Luffy so, because he would never lie to little brother, never. And he says how much he loves him, how much he means, because Luffy is his whole world.

Luffy smiles, nothing is better than big brother, and big brother is happy, so he is happy, too. And he reaches up, reaches to grasp, and pulls himself up to Ace, catching him quite unprepared, to wrap himself around Ace's neck and hug him and kiss him and let him know how much he loves him back. But it is so hard to keep telling, and Luffy breaks off mid-sentence because now, _now_, that white-hot fire in him is even greater, more perfect, like he is one with Ace, melting with him, and he wants more, more, more, because Ace is gasping and holding him close, close enough that his shaft is pressed against big brother's abdomen and it is just another level of good on top of the last.

He grinds himself down on Ace, blinded though his eyes are open, and is almost weeping, almost screaming. And Ace is gasping for breath, it is so good- Luffy is so good. And it mounts and mounts and mounts, and it detonates down deep, and he shouts with the force of it. Luffy hears it and wonders briefly why Ace seems suddenly so much more intense in it, because Ace is out of rhythm with Luffy, is setting the pace harder and faster, but Luffy is _not_ complaining, because it is so good, so good, so good, so wonderfully good, and the release of it sweeps through him like lightning, up his spine and tingling at his neck, where Ace is riding out the last of what Luffy had done to him, biting the leaping pulse there, because it does, after all, belong to _him_. Luffy lets out a soft scream, raking his nails over Ace's back because he never imagined anything like this was out there, nothing this wonderful, perfect, this out-of-this-world.

Slowly, it fades away, and he slumps against big brother tiredly, aching and quiet. He murmurs incoherently, and Ace smiles, hugging him, loving him.

It is not long before they are cleaned, dressed again, and almost cooled entirely off. It is not long before Ace is kissing Luffy chastely, and whispering his daydreams. Luffy holds onto Ace's arm possessively, keeping the man wrapped around him. Ace is so warm. He presses his face into big brother's collarbone, and is content with this unearthly feeling in his heart, this light as air delight at merely hearing Ace's voice; whatever worrious nightmares his insecure subconscious had concocted now dissolved, refuted. Ace smiles and holds him tightly, then pulls the blanket up to them softly, kisses little brother's smooth forehead, and holds him near. He whispers the tales of the things he will do, and the places he will see, and the adventures he will have, that he had put away in childhood. He weaves the tales until they fall asleep, and in all the things, places, and adventures, Luffy- wonderful, perfect, the only one- is always there.


End file.
